


Fate/FINAL Night

by The_Distorted_Shadow



Category: Fate/stay night - All Media Types, Shin Megami Tensei Series, 真女神転生IV FINAL | Shin Megami Tensei IV: Apocalypse
Genre: Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Crossover, F/M, Minor Original Character(s), Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-12
Packaged: 2019-05-03 07:42:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 20,593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14564256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Distorted_Shadow/pseuds/The_Distorted_Shadow
Summary: Emiya Shirou never knew what the future held. But circumstances caused all that to change, when he found himself thrust forward in time 30 years, into a Tokyo overrun with demons and cut off from the rest of the world by a dome of rock. But at least it gives him the chance to save those forsaken by even God itself.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone.  
> For those who haven't read my profile, this is actually something that has already been posted on Fanfiction.net for a while now.  
> And I just decided to post my things here as well.  
> Also, just to be clear, I put the rating as Mature just to be on the safe side more than anything else, so it might not be explicit enough for the rating, but I feel more comfortable with it anyway.  
> But anyway... I suppose I should just shut up and let you get on with the story.

Fujimura Taiga found herself once again heading towards the Emiya Residence for breakfast.

That was nothing unusual, she did that every morning to make sure the boy that was legally her responsibility to care for was safe and not doing anything troublesome to the neighbourhood.

Not that Shirou would ever do anything like that, he was simply too kind and helpful to cause problems… so if anything, it was more to make sure he was safe and not alone.

The street was practically silent at this time in the morning, very few people travelled through the area at the busiest of times, but this early usually made her the only person out in the neighbourhood.

Upon reaching the Emiya Residence, she immediately opened the door and called out to the owner of the house.

“Shirou!!!” she cried out already expecting to smell the sweet aroma of the boy’s cooking.

It never came.

Nor did a reply.

Was he sick?  She had found him sleeping in the shed on occasion, so she immediately made her way to check on the small outhouse.

“Shirou?” looking inside made her frown by his lack of a presence… it wasn’t normal for him to oversleep if he hadn’t collapsed in the shed.

Checking his room made her worry when he wasn’t there, nor was he in the bathroom.

Room after room was checked and she saw no hide nor hair of him anywhere.

She would’ve assumed he had decided to stay at a friend’s house if it wasn’t for the fact that she knew he was home the previous night.

And she doubted he would leave for school without leaving some food for her.

She felt her heart sinking as she considered exactly what this meant.

Emiya Shirou was missing.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

Emiya Shirou could feel his body aching as consciousness returned to him and his nose picked up on a horrible scent permeating everything around him, meaning he was somewhere that hadn’t been properly cleaned in a long time.

Opening his eyes only made him grimace more.

He was currently sitting under an unfamiliar ceiling in a dark room that looked like it belonged in an underground mall.

The futon he was laying on had also clearly seen better days but in the end, he was in an unfamiliar place with no idea of how he had gotten there.

Sitting up, he rubbed his head as he tried to think back on the last thing he remembered.

He struggled to recall anything from before he woke up but the most he found himself managing to remember was his house and a blond man.

Beyond that, nothing.

The sudden noise of the door opening made him startle but he prepared himself to try and escape, only to find a man wearing a set of amour that looked almost like hockey pads, and carrying a shotgun enter the room.

Even if he was more capable with his magecraft, he doubted he could take on the person without at least a weapon.

“Oh, you’re awake,” the stranger spoke in a voice that sounded almost… pleasantly surprised at that, “we weren’t sure if you would be able to wake up when we found you.”

Shirou found himself frowning at that.

They had _found_ him?

He had to withhold a derisive snort at that thought.

If he had been found, then he should’ve been taken to the police station and not put onto an old futon, in a dark room, with an armed man checking up on him.

“Where am I?” he asked, wondering if this man would answer him.

“Ueno,” the response was quick and simple, causing him to blink in surprise before frowning.

He only knew of one Ueno off the top of his head and that was a district in Tokyo.

“Can you walk?” the man asked, and he found himself turning his attention back to him, noting that the gun was still lowered.

“Yes,” he acknowledged, earning what sounded like a sigh of relief from the man.

“Great, then come on,” and with that, the stranger motioned for him to follow.

Shirou found himself rising off the makeshift bed and following the man, only to frown as soon as he left the room.

It looked like a subway station, but there seemed to be no one in the area except for people who were clearly homeless, and more people armed to the teeth with armour and guns.

Wherever he was, it was clearly derelict.

He found his brow furrowing as he watched a child talk to one of the gun carrying people with what appeared to be admiration… causing him to look at the other people in the area and how they reacted to the armed figures.

No one seemed unhappy to have these guards in the area.

Did that mean that the guards were there to protect these people?  But if so, then what from?

“Oh, so you’re awake,” he found his attention drawn just across from the hall and noticed a modified ticket booth with a woman currently manning it.

“Great, then you can deal with this guy,” and with that, Shirou suddenly found the man leaving him alone and entering a door just a little further down the hall, as the woman released an exasperated groan.

“Sorry about that,” the woman spoke up not too long after that and Shirou found himself moving closer to her window, “but you know what hunters are like.”

“Uh... hunters?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking, from the way she spoke about it, it sounded like she thought it was obvious he knew the man was a hunter.

But then again, it would explain why everyone seemed so at ease with people carrying guns.

“Oh, come on,” she sounded exasperated by his confusion, “hunters, you now, the people who go around outside, collecting relics, gathering food and killing demons.”

Now he was officially confused.

Why was this woman talking about demons like it was a perfectly normal thing to do?

“What’s with that look?” the woman asked with a raised eyebrow, “don’t tell me you hit your head or something?”

“Ah, sorry, it’s just what you said about killing demons,” he admitted while rubbing the back of his head, “it’s just that you sounded serious then.”

Her stare at him made it clear she didn’t know how to respond to his response.

However, she finally seemed to come to a decision.

“Kid, what’s the last thing you remember?” she asked and he found himself frowning at that.

“I remember being at home when… I think someone attacked me,” he admitted as he slowly started to wonder if this woman was even a normal human, “next thing I know, I was waking up in that room behind me.”

“So… where’s your home?” she asked before continuing, “Shinjuku?  Kinshicho? Maybe Shibuya?”

He couldn’t stop himself from frowning as she listed of Train Stations in Tokyo… why would he live in any of them?

“Fuyuki City,” he stated bluntly, earning several blinks off the woman.

“Excuse me?” she sounded almost dumbfounded by his response.

“I said, I’m from Fuyuki City,” he repeated with his annoyance coming through.

“Great… just great…” she sounded almost defeated as she made that claim, “guess that means you _did_ hit your head.”

He had to control his breathing at that response by her, but before he could reply, she continued.

“Look, I don’t know if ‘Fuyuki City’ was a real place or not,” she started, causing him to frown, “but if it was, then it probably stopped being during God’s Plan.”

He couldn’t stop himself from blinking in response to that.

What did she mean by ‘God’s Plan’?

His confusion must have shown on his face given the way the woman was now releasing a sigh of defeat.

“God’s Plan, is the name we gave to the nuclear holocaust that happened back in twenty-thirteen,” she stated, and he felt his blood run cold.

From what she had just told him, he had somehow ended up over ten years in the future… a future where humanity almost wiped itself out.

“What year is it now?” he found himself asking automatically, earning another sigh off the woman.

“Twenty-thirty-five,” her response made him close his fists.

If a nuclear weapon had gone off just twenty-two years ago, then radiation would still be a problem.

“So, everyone’s down here to protect themselves from the fallout,” he said out loud.

“The what?” her question made him freeze.

“The Nuclear Fallout,” he clarified before noting the confusion on her face.

“Hmm... I think I’ve heard that somewhere before,” she muttered to herself, “but I can’t say I know what it is.”

He couldn’t stop himself from staring in disbelief at that statement, surely she should’ve been taught about that if bombs had been dropped.

“But, if nuclear weapons did go off, you should know about the radiation,” he protested, earning a few blinks off the woman.

“Uh… you do realize that the ceiling stopped them from hitting us, right?” her statement made him stare at her blankly.

“Even if you’re in a subway, it shouldn’t have been enough to protect people from the blast,” he was finding himself growing more frustrated with every point made.

“… uh… I said _the_ ceiling… as in the several kilometre-thick dome of stone that covers all of Tokyo,” he could do little more than stare in disbelief at that explanation.

“… what?” was all he could say in response to that.

“Back when the bombs were dropped, a giant dome formed and protected the city from the destruction,” she told him with an exasperated sigh, “of course, that also meant that we were trapped in here with the demons.”

“Demons?” he couldn’t stop himself from blurting out in confusion, earning a choking noise from the woman.

“W-w-what?” she could barely make a coherent sentence before she continued, “you don’t even remember that demons have been around all our lives?!”

He also noticed the noise of others displaying shock at what had been said.

So he decided to be blunt and open about his situation.

“Given that the last time I checked, it was the year two-thousand and three, I’m a bit behind on the times,” he stated with the blandest tone he could manage.

Almost immediately, the woman seemed to display a look of comprehension.

“Shit... why didn’t you say that earlier?” she asked him and he found himself somewhat surprised she believed him.

“I thought it was too ridiculous for you to believe,” he responded bluntly, “I’m actually surprised you believe me at all.”

“Yeah… when you’re born into a world filled with demons and a giant stone wall in the sky and stories that the world outside Tokyo has time moving faster than inside… the idea of time travel isn’t that hard to buy,” she pointed out with a bluntness in her own tone.

He honestly couldn’t say he could argue with that reasoning.

“Still, must he hard for you to handle,” she seemed genuinely apologetic as she made that statement, “being dragged from your life and thrown into such a shitty situation.”

“It’s not that bad,” he admitted, this was the perfect opportunity to help people after all.

“You won’t be saying that if you go above ground,” she told him, and he found himself giving her a smile.

“Sorry… but you said something about demon hunters earlier?” he asked her and she seemed to deflate at that.

“Yeah, they’re people who do jobs for rewards,” she seemed to be more than willing to tell him now that she knew he really was clueless about any of this, “but it’s dangerous work, many hunters die in the line of duty.”

“I see… and what do I need to become one,” he asked, earning a wince off the woman.

“Look, being a hunter is dangerous,” she started to say, “you’re talking about risking your life every day and the rewards are rarely that good… you’d probably be better off helping out somewhere else.”

“Maybe, but being a hunter sounds like it would satisfy me more,” he declared, after all, it would give him the chance to save people.

“… fine,” she seemed unhappy with what he said but continued to speak regardless, “you need weapons and a smartphone… then you need to speak to a regional boss to be registered.”

That caused him to blink.

“Why a smartphone?” he had heard about smartphones being released a few years ago… well, it would be longer now, but he didn’t understand why he would need one.

“Well… smartphones are what allow hunters to access the Demon Summoning App,” she stated, and he found himself blinking in surprise, “after all, most hunters make small deals with demons to get them to fight with them.”

That news was enough to make Shirou even more confused than before.

“After all… demons are naturally more powerful than humans,” she continued, “so without a smartphone, you’re pretty much screwed if you try to fight one.”

“How do I get a smartphone?” he asked, earning a sigh of defeat from the storekeeper.

“You don’t,” she responded clearly, “the Ashura-kai and Ring of Gaea have done everything in their power to collect all the remaining smartphones for themselves.”

“Are they factions of hunters?” his question was obvious.

“Oh no, they’re completely different,” her response made him blink, “the only reason the hunters have any smartphones is because the Ashura-kai and Ring of Gaea let them… so there is quite a backlog of potential hunters waiting for phones.”

That sounded like it would be beyond his ability to get around.

Which meant he would just have to leave the phone issue alone and do what he could without one.

“So I probably won’t be able to get one,” he stated, earning a nod off the woman.

“Yeah, but there is plenty of work to do that doesn’t need a phone,” she told him, causing him to blink in response, “and you’re going to have to do something if you want to eat.”

Shirou almost found himself snorting.

The idea of not earning his keep was a foreign concept to him.

“Isn’t that normal?” he asked, earning a shrug off the shopkeeper.

“It is here,” she responded, “I was born after the Ceiling appeared, so I only know what I was told… and that included people leeching off others so they didn’t have to work.”

“Well… I guess there were people like that,” he admitted with a frown, “but I’ve been working ever since I was allowed to, so it’s nothing new to me.”

“Well, then you shouldn’t have too much trouble gathering supplies should you?” she asked him with a small grin on her face, “don’t worry too much about going out, the Hunters should be able to protect you from the demons.”

“Ah, you don’t need to send hunters with me,” he told her, earning a sigh off the woman.

“Look, I get that you don’t know how dangerous demons are, but if you meet one without a hunter protecting your ass, you’re dead,” she told him without any trace of humour in her tone, “there are no two ways about it, you need the demon summoning app to stand up to them and without it, you’re little more than a snack for them.”

Shirou wanted to disagree, he wanted to be able to say he would be fine because he knew magecraft… but the simple fact of the matter was that he could barely use any of it without suffering severe pain.

But that didn’t mean he could just accept the situation and not do anything about it.

It just meant that he would have to be careful to avoid outright fighting a demon.

“I guess I’ll be careful then,” he told her, though he couldn’t shake the lack of conviction in his words.

“… I get the impression I’m not going to change your mind,” she responded with a sigh of defeat, clearly hearing the lack of conviction herself, before she seemed to decide to change the topic, “are you hungry?”

He was used to eating good meals every day, so he could tell his stomach was expecting food, however there was something important that he couldn’t dismiss in this situation.

“I’m good enough to skip a few meals,” he pointed out.

“If that’s the case, are you up for some gathering?” she asked him without any hesitation in her tone.

“Yeah,” and with that acknowledgement, he found himself getting his first job in this new world.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

Shirou could do nothing more than feel frustration as he searched for usable resources in the ruins of Tokyo.

It was dark, illuminated only by the lights that hadn’t blown since the city had been engulfed by the giant dome of rock that loomed overhead like a headsman’s axe.

Because as long as that ceiling existed, the humans trapped under it were living on borrowed time.

Sooner or later, they would run out of provisions or be hunted down to the last person by the demons that stalked the streets… because the city had already gone from over eight million residents, to less than a thousand, ending the species wasn’t an insurmountable task anymore.

And despite everything, he was currently stuck rummaging through derelict stores looking for anything useable.

 The worst part was knowing that there was someone just a few dozen feet away that was watching over him and the others that were scavenging just in case a demon appeared to attack them.

The idea that there was someone who would be putting themselves at risk to protect him made him clench his fist… it was the last thing he wanted to happen after all.

Shaking his head clear of those thoughts, he looked through another section of the building and found a slightly damaged set of mugs… they weren’t something that would be suitable back when he came from, but given the situation this future was in, they’d probably be more use here.

And so, he picked them up and put them in the tattered rucksack he had managed to get his hands on before feeling… _some_ type of sensation spread through his body, one that he couldn’t identify.

Looking around, he found himself wondering just what this… unnatural feeling was and what was causing it.

“Hey, you okay?” another person not far from him asked upon seeing him looking around the area.

“Sorry… I just… got this bad feeling,” he decided to be honest about it.

“Heh, first time gathering?” the stranger asked and he found himself frowning at that, “don’t be surprised, I think most people feel uneasy when they first come out the shelters.”

Shirou hoped the person was right, that it was just the fact that this was the first time he had been out on the streets of Tokyo since he had gotten there, but the feeling just seemed to grow more as time passed.

“Well, why don’t you just get back to work, if you don’t gather enough, you won’t eat,” and with that the stranger continued to rummage through their own pile of rubble.

Shaking his head clear, he was about to turn to return to his pile when he noticed movement out the corner of his eye.

Turning to face whatever it was he had noticed, he found himself looking at a large man with long brown hair, wearing what looked like what little he’d seen of Scottish clothing on TV, with a blue Tartan kilt, studded leather breast-plates, a long fur cape and wielded a one-handed sword and shield.

However, what truly caught his attention concerning the man, was the distinct lack of legs he possessed, the numerous swords and arrows impaling him through his body, the blood flowing from his forearms and the fact he was floating above the roof that was directly above the Hunter standing guard.

“Above you!” he called out as his body moved towards the man.

The Hunter immediately jumped away, resulting in him only receiving a deep gash down his back instead of being cleaved in two completely, but at least he was alive, even if he was laying on the ground, groaning in obvious pain.

The screams that echoed through the area made it clear to him that the other civilians were more concerned about running away, but he couldn’t leave the Hunter to die.

“I missed,” what was obviously a demon stated with a clear sense of annoyance in its tone as it moved towards the injured Hunter.

Shirou found himself looking for a weapon, the only one that he could really see was the gun laying at the Hunter’s side, but the demon would definitely reach them before he did.

He didn’t have time.

And there were weapons he could probably use.

So he rushed towards the legless demon as fast as his legs could carry him.

[Foolish boy] and before he could reach the demon, he found himself stopping as suddenly as he could and leaning his head back and to the side as the blade the demon held in it’s right hand cut into his cheekbone.

He was certain it had left a nasty gash if the feeling of liquid flowing down his cheek was anything to go by, but he immediately pressed forward and reached out to grab one of the swords currently stuck in the demon’s flesh.

“I missed again,” the demon sounded almost frustrated as Shirou found himself trying to rip the blade from the demon before finding himself getting knocked back by the shield, [an amusing plan you had there boy, but my swords are part of my body.]

For the first time, the demon seemed to actually regard him as something more than an insect.

And Shirou found himself facing certain death.

But if he died, then who would save the hunter that was laying on the ground, bleeding out.

Gritting his teeth, he looked for something to use against the demon but once again came up short.

There were no weapons he could use.

… except for one.

A weapon he had never thought he would have to resort to, a weapon his father had told him wasn’t worth bothering with due to how inefficient it was.

Once again the foes weapon headed towards him, this time he didn’t have time to dodge.

Pulling his hands up, he looked at the sword that was swinging at him and _pushed_.

The next thing he knew, the blade that had been heading towards him was no longer there as a copy of it appeared in his hands and let him parry it to the side, much to the apparent shock of the sword wielding demon.

But with that sword, came an unfamiliar pain, three shots of heat flowing through his body, practically burning away at the flesh around them… he was certain he wouldn’t be able to fight with that in his body.

And so he put everything he had into a swing that he had never known he knew, possessing power he never thought himself capable of, and somehow managed to cleave into the demon’s flesh as easily as it had cut into the Hunters.

He heard it grunt in pain as it staggered backwards in response to the slash he made against it, and with as much strength as he could muster, forced himself off the ground and into a second swing, one that managed to strike true, severing the demon’s head from its shoulders.

Watching his foes body collapse to the ground, he found himself taking several deep breaths as he watched some form of red, bubbling energy rise from it and move towards him.

He could feel it, entering the flow of heat that had appeared when he had used his magecraft against the demon.

With his mind now clearer with the active threat gone, he found himself almost laughing at the thought that this heat was probably some form of magic circuit… though it felt… off, compared to what his nerves felt like when he used them.

Without any further hesitation, he moved towards the fallen Hunter and noticed that while they were definitely unconscious, they were still at least breathing.

And so he proceeded to let his makeshift weapon disperse into nothingness before picking up the man that had stood guard over the area, and started to make his way towards the entrance to the subway.

“Hey!  What’s going on here?!” he felt relief flood his body as he saw a group of Hunters coming out of the entrance… that would be helpful given how tired he was right now.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

“Thanks,” Shirou found himself saying as the shopkeeper finished cleaning the cut on his face, stemming the bleeding and applying bandages.

“It’ll leave a scar, but given how close you were to losing your head there, you should feel grateful,” she responded with a sigh.

“What about the Hunter?” he asked, hoping it would be good news.

“From what I’ve heard, he’ll probably make a full recovery,” she responded, and he found himself blinking in surprise, “unlike you, Hunters have demons capable of healing injuries like that.”

That made him smile.

Knowing that his short struggle had meaningful consequences definitely helped him ignore the feeling of heat that was flowing through his newly opened magic circuits.

“… can’t you at least look like you’re going to try and get someone to heal you?” she asked him, and he found himself chuckling in response.

“They’ve got more important things to use that power on that a cut like this,” he told her easily.

“… hey… was everyone back in your time like that?” he looked at her and blinked in confusion, “I mean, was everyone so… selfless?”

He found himself frowning at that.

He wished he could say they were, but that would be far too much of a lie.

“No, most people were pretty selfish,” he admitted with a sigh of defeat.

“So you’re just a special case,” her words made him frown.

“No… I had a time when I thought of myself and ignored others,” he admitted as the memories of the flames flickered at his mind, “I’m just trying to make up for that.”

“… well, I don’t know what happened back then,” she spoke up, “but you saved a man today… he had a kid you know.”

Shirou couldn’t stop himself from jerking in surprise at that.

“So that’s a man that would’ve died if you hadn’t been there, and a child that would’ve been without a father,” she told him bluntly, “so as far as I’m concerned, you’ve probably made up for whatever selfishness you had before.”

He couldn’t stop himself from frowning at that.

She didn’t know.

He would never make up for the lives lost that day.

That was why he would continue to save as many people as he could… he would save others in the hopes that it would justify his survival when everyone else had died.

“Look, I get that you might be used to moping around,” the shopkeeper said with a sigh, “but be happy with every victory you get… the losses are far more common.”

He looked down at the ground as she told him that.

“Now why don’t you go to bed, you look so exhausted, one of your eyes is drooping,” she said and he found himself snorting, it wasn’t his tiredness that was making his eye droop, “I’ll make sure you get something to eat and drink delivered later.”

He was about to reject the idea of food but his stomach made it clear it wasn’t happy with the idea of not being fed after such a bad situation.

“… thanks,” he settled on instead.

“It’s not a problem,” and with that said, he forced himself up off the floor he was sitting on before making his way back to the room he woke up in, “just know, you’ll probably have company tonight… the other rooms are too cramped if you’re taking one to yourself.”

“Okay,” he didn’t really have anything else to say about it and so, he made his way for the bed.

Hopefully, these circuits would calm down and he would be able to fight the demons again.

Because he had learned that he could still defeat demons and save people even without a smartphone.

He just needed to recover from whatever he did to open those three magic circuits.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

This… was not what he expected.

Hunger had caused him to attack a human from above and behind with the intention of satiating himself.

The strike had failed in achieving its intended result but had still crippled his victim.

But then that boy had gotten involved and had somehow managed to manifest a sword in mid-air.

He was certain he had been slain by the boy… but this was most certainly _not_ the expanse.

An endless desert, with his only company being a set of swords that lay in the centre of the region.

At least his hunger was dying down though.

Well… it wasn’t like there was anything to do here, so he started to look at the weapons resting before him.

That one looked just like the sword in his hand, it even had the same nick from wear there… and there… and there… and there… and there.

Okay, that was… wrong.

Looking between his sword and the one resting before him, he couldn’t identify a single difference between them.

The others seemed to reflect the swords that were impaled in him as well.

Never before had he been so confused.

Where was he?

And why did he feel like he had been bound?

So many questions… well, he was sure answers would appear at some point.

For now, he would just wait.

And look at the swords again.


	2. Chapter 2

Shirou couldn’t stop himself from groaning as he felt the numbness from his aching Magic Circuits refusing to leave him.

It had been over a day since they had opened themselves during his fight with the Scottish Demon he had learned was called Lham Dearg, but his body refused to recover from the numbness that permeated it.

Beyond that, there was one circuit that felt worse than the others, feeling almost like it was… congested with something a bit thicker than normal magical energy.

The bandages that covered his face had been changed a few times since they had been put on, but at least his cut had stopped bleeding.

“Hey, you feeling any better?” he couldn’t stop himself from releasing a sigh as the shopkeeper asked him that as he walked up to her to trade in the resources he had managed to pick up during the day.

“Sorry, still feeling numb,” he admitted with a frown, “I just don’t know how to get rid of it.”

“Same here,” she responded without hesitation, “Lham Dearg aren’t known for poisoning their victims so I have no idea what’s causing it.”

He was unsure if he should tell her about the concept of Magic Circuits, but even now, Kiritsugu’s advice about keeping it a secret remained in his head.

“Sorry,” he couldn’t stop himself from simply apologizing, he knew that his numbness was making him less effective at gathering resources and preventing him from helping people being attacked by demons, but he still felt bad about his lack of usefulness.

“Don’t be,” she told him with a blank stare, “it’s pretty obvious you’re not trying to use it as an excuse to skip out of working… so cut yourself some slack.”

He honestly didn’t know how to respond to her statement.

He understood what she was telling him, but at the same time, he couldn’t just stop himself from feeling like dead weight even if he still did what he could to earn his keep.

“Well… let’s see here,” and with that, she looked at what he had managed to find, “some canned coffee, some Vitamins and a kettle… that totals…”

She turned to what was obviously a chart on the wall before putting the results into a calculator lying on her desk.

“One thousand and eighty-one Macca,” and with that, she handed over a bill and a selection of coins.

It had definitely confused him when he had first seen them, at least, until he found out that the money was the official currency of the demons.

And apparently, some demons were willing to accept it as payment for their services, meaning it was easier to use it instead of Yen since it was practically universal.

“Thank you,” he responded with a sigh as he considered what he could buy with that.

Food wasn’t a big issue, the Hunter Association served that and he had discovered that Hunters did regularly go out hunting demons for meat.

Vegetables where much rarer though since there were only limited places to grow them and even those places needed special lights that would eventually run out.

The problem was buying equipment.

Even the cheapest combat knife cost over three thousand Macca.

Well, it could wait a couple more days.

For now, he would just settle with getting some food and trying to shake off the numbness he was feeling.

Entering the Hunter Association was something he had done once before, but he still couldn’t get over how much busier it was than the rest of the underground.

But then again, Hunters from all over gathered to eat and get jobs so it wasn’t really a surprise that it would be busier, especially given how small the room was.

“Hoi!  Emiya,” he found his attention drawn towards a hunter that looked to be around his thirties with sharp features, short black hair, blue eyes and wearing the usual hockey-pads, waving him over and he found himself frowning in confusion, “don’t be a stranger, come on over!”

He felt himself tense at how the man seemed to know him and even seemed almost happy to see him.

But he moved over and took a seat next to him since he doubted the man was planning on causing any trouble in such a packed location.

“Hey, barkeep, get the kid some food on me,” the man said and Shirou found himself jerking in surprise.

“Wha?  No, I can’t accept it,” he responded, he wasn’t willing to accept charity when there were so many people who probably needed food more than him.

“Oh come on, it’s the least I could do after you saved my life,” the man said with a frown and he found his eyes widening as he looked towards the man’s back, “almost fully healed… took a while for a friends Leanan Sidhe to heal it up but outside of still being a little stiff, I’ll probably be able to take another job soon.”

Shirou found himself releasing a sigh of relief at that.

“Sorry, I thought you’d still be bedridden,” he admitted with a smile, “I never expected you to be up and about so quickly.”

“Don’t worry about it,” the man responded with a smile, “but if you want, I can get one of my demons to heal that cut on your face.”

Shirou definitely appreciated the offer, but his reasoning was the same as before.

“Thank you for the offer, but it’s probably better if you save the healing for life-threatening injuries,” in a world like this, he was all too aware that getting healed quickly could be the difference between life and death, so the more healing was available, the more people wouldn’t have to die.

“You sure?” Shirou nodded, earning a sigh off the man, “I mean, you did get that because I was too relaxed, so I don’t mind fixing it.”

“I’d rather the healing is saved for someone that actually needs it,” his response wasn’t something he would change his mind about, no matter how much anyone tried to convince him otherwise.

“… are you sure you don’t?” the man asked and Shirou found himself looking at him with a frown, “Hana told me you were feeling numb yesterday.”

Shirou found himself releasing a sigh as he heard him mention the Shopkeeper that had helped him so much since he had ended up in Ueno.

“That’s not your fault,” he told the man firmly.

“Hard not to feel that way,” the response was quick but this was as a situation where Shirou would definitely turn down a check-up… he didn’t know if the demon wouldn’t recognize what his magic circuits were and let the man know.

“Well, I don’t think it is and it’s my body that got messed up,” he stated without hesitation before he found his attention drawn to a bowl of meat stew that was placed down in front of him by the barkeeper.

He carefully decided to push the idea of what the meat was made of out of his mind as he offered a quick ‘Itadakimasu’ before starting to consume the meal.

“Hana wasn’t lying when she said you were a pretty selfless person,” the man said with a shake of his head.

Shirou found himself unable to really refuse that statement as he continued to eat the meal that had been laid before him.

“Anyway…” the man spoke up once more, “you planning on becoming a Hunter?”

Shirou found himself feeling relief at the change in topic and decided to answer honestly.

“Yeah, seems like something I want to do,” he responded easily.

“Well, as much as I’d like to put in a good word for you,” the man started, “I don’t have much pull in the Association, so I might not be able to get you much farther up the waiting list.”

Shirou could do little more than blink in surprise, he hadn’t expected even that much.

However…

“Thanks, but I’m not going to wait for a Phone,” he admitted, earning a grimace from the Hunter.

“That’s not a good idea,” the response was expected.

“I know, but I want to be more useful than just a gatherer,” he admitted immediately.

“Why not just wait?” Shirou refused to agree to something like that.

“Because the longer I wait, the more people I fail to save,” he noted the way he man’s expression seemed to shift into a frown at that.

Finishing up his meal, he stood from his seat.

“Thank you for the meal,” he said quickly, “I might see you later.”

“Yeah… see you later,” the man said as the rookie magus left to get some time alone.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

Sitting alone in a room, Shirou focused inward as he tried to figure out a way to undo the issues his newly opened Magic Circuits had caused.

Of course, the sheer fact that he didn’t know what was wrong with them meant that figuring it out would be a learning experience.

First thing was first, he had to try and figure out what exactly was causing the numbness, so he activated his circuits and immediately felt the power within them starting to swell and flow beyond the light hum that had previously reminded him of their presence.

The fact that it didn’t affect his aching was enough to tell him that it wasn’t the fact they were open that was the problem… which left the method they were opened with.

The problem there, was that he didn’t actually know how he opened them in the first place.

It had been a moment of desperation that had caused him to activate them… so maybe the speed with which he opened them was a factor?  Maybe the sudden influx of Magical Energy had shot through his muscles and caused some damage there?

He found himself wishing he was capable of using Structural Analysis on himself as he thought about that, about just how much easier it would be to diagnose the cause of his numbness if he could literally look at his body in detailed schematics.

But if he had actually damaged his body, then he might need to see about having a demon check him over… though he might just try to have a random demon do so for payment instead of getting a Hunter’s demon to do so.

Shaking his head clear, he dismissed his thoughts on the numbness, he obviously couldn’t really do much about that, so instead, he decided to try and figure out what was wrong with one of his Circuits.

While none of them really felt quite right compared to the ones he used to rig from his nerves, the energy flowing through them felt like there was more to it than what he was used to, there was one that stood out above the others.

A power much denser and harder to move than the rest… almost like comparing water to soup, took up residence in one of his circuits and he had no idea what it was.

Taking a deep breath, he focused on the flow of that circuit and spoke two words.

“Trace On.”

Pushing the thick power, he forced it to move before with a flourish of his left hand, forced it to leave his body.

Immediately, he knew something had gone wrong as he felt something he could only describe as a tether connecting the energy he expelled to his circuit.

The more shocking part however, was the blast of golden lightning that burst at the location he had previously gestured in the region of.

“Interesting,” Shirou felt his blood run cold as he heard a voice he remembered from just a couple of days prior, “I wasn’t expecting to be summoned.”

There, floating right where the lightning had appeared, was the demon that had cut his face, Lham Dearg.

It didn’t take long for it to turn its attention to him.

“Oh?  I did not expect to see you again so soon,” it spoke with a hint of surprise in its tone and Shirou found himself wondering if it was possible to use the tether to drag the demon back into his Circuits until he could get a Hunter to help in slaying it, “but then again, it would appear that I have become bound to you.”

Shirou wasn’t sure what that would mean for the demon but he decided to not tug on the tether just yet.

“What’s going on?” he asked, earning a nonchalant shrug off the Scottish Swordsman.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” it told him without any real emotion in its tone, “I have never heard of a demon becoming bound by a human without an external object to act as a medium.”

“Are you going to try and kill me again?” he asked it bluntly, earning a small snort from the demon.

“Why would I?  This connection between us is stopping me from going hungry, so I want to keep it as long as possible,” it stated and Shirou found himself blinking in disbelief.

“B-but didn’t I kill you?” he pointed out, earning a chuckle from the creature.

“I attacked your group first and retaliation is only to be expected on the battlefield,” it responded, clearly not holding a grudge against him, “that you managed to kill me simply says that fortune favoured you this time.”

Shirou really didn’t know what to say in response to that.

“Also… wherever you stored me has nice swords,” it spoke with a sense of satisfaction, “why, they even looked identical to my own.”

He had no idea what it was talking about… and beyond that, he had the feeling he should probably do something about the demon now.

“Yeah… anyway…” and with that he pulled on the tether and immediately noticed the demon dispersing into some form of energy before flowing back into his magic circuit, “bye.”

This was definitely a major complication… and it didn’t take him long to figure out who to talk to about it.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

“So, let me get this straight,” the shopkeeper named Hana said with a frown, “that Lham Dearg you killed has somehow ended up taking residence in your body?”

“Pretty much,” he admitted.

“And it is not trying to kill you,” she clarified.

“It said the connection is stopping it from going hungry,” he told her as calmly as he could.

“And you actually want to get rid of it?” she asked, and he found himself frowning at her.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he asked her.

“It could be useful… especially if you want to do the sort of stupid thing only a Hunter does without a phone to make it more survivable,” she stated bluntly.

“But it seriously injured…” he trailed off, realizing he never actually got the Hunter’s name.

“Takeda,” she told him with an amused smile, “and don’t worry about that, he’s a Hunter, he’s recruited some of the demons that have attacked him before.”

Shirou still didn’t feel all that happy with the idea of ignoring the fact that the demon that was currently using his Magic Circuits as a makeshift home, had injured someone he had actually gotten to speak to properly.

“Look, if you still don’t like it, then go and talk to him about it,” she told him firmly.

He couldn’t stop himself from releasing a sigh of defeat as she said that.

In the end, it would depend mainly on how Takeda felt about the demon’s presence… because as much as he hated to admit it, if the demon really did want to keep him alive so it’s hunger would remain sated, then it probably could be useful.

“I’ll go and do that then,” he acknowledged her suggestion, “see you around Hana-san.”

“Yeah, see ya Shirou,” she replied without hesitation as he walked over to the Hunter Association and entered.

The room was still just as busy as it had been earlier, and it took him a few moments to find his target amidst the mob of Hunters and the uneven light cast by the giant screen that was used for the internal Hunter Ranking system.

However, as soon as the man was in sight, he made his way towards him and the other man he was casually chatting with.

“Takeda-san?” he decided to ask politely before imposing himself into the conversation.

“Oh?  You’re back Emiya,” the response was clearly surprised though there was an undercurrent of it being a pleasant one for the man, “this is Sosuke, he’s the guy whose demon healed my back.”

“It’s nice to meet you Sosuke-san,” Shirou responded without hesitation as he looked over the black-haired man’s friend.

“Likewise,” the newly introduced man said without preamble.

The man was a bit bigger than Takeda and had stronger features despite also looking about the same age as the recovering Hunter.  Beyond that, he had brown hair and green eyes and wore the usual hockey-pad style armour that the Hunters seemed to favour.

 “Have you changed your mind about getting that cut on your face healed up?” Takeda asked him, and he found himself blinking in surprise, he had actually forgotten about that with the current issues he was facing.

“Ah, no, but I am here to talk to you about the demon that attacked you,” he asked, earning a frown from the blue-eyed man.

“What about it?  You killed it didn’t you?” the man asked before continuing, “the Hunters who came to help said you cut off its head.”

Shirou had to wince as he thought about what he was about to say.

“Yeah… I did… but it turns out it… didn’t exactly die,” he said with a wince.

“… what?” the response was obvious and Shirou found himself internally wincing even more as he said what he had to.

“I… seem to have somehow bound it to me… and accidentally summoned it earlier,” he grimaced as he made that claim.

“And where is it now?” Sosuke spoke up and he shrugged.

“It seems to be possible for me to store it in… my nerves,” he wasn’t quite ready to tell them about the presence of Magic Circuits yet, so nerves seemed like the best analogue to the real storage container.

“… I’ve never heard of anything like that happening before,” Takeda said after a few moments of thinking, “but if that’s true… then I’m guessing it didn’t attack you when you summoned it.”

Shirou could do nothing more than stare in surprise at how quickly he came to that conclusion.

“Don’t be so surprised, you’ll probably be acting as a free source of food for it, so it’d have to be pretty stupid to try and kill you,” the man he had saved said with a shrug.

“And you’re okay with that?” he asked, earning a snort of amusement from the man.

“If I held a grudge against every demon that attacked me, I’d have none in this phone of mine,” he responded with a smile, “plus, if you can summon a demon without a phone, then that might let you survive long enough to get one.”

Shirou honestly found himself shocked by how easily the man was dismissing the attempt on his life, but then again, he’d probably been experiencing that for most of his life, so it probably didn’t hold as much weight as it did back in the days before Demonic invasions.

“So you don’t have a problem with me using it?” he asked for confirmation.

“No problems from me,” the black-haired man responded without any hesitation.

“And what about equipment?” Sosuke spoke up and Shirou found himself releasing a sigh at that.

“Don’t have any but a few more days of scavenging should probably get me enough to buy something,” he admitted after a few seconds.

“Well, I still have some old stuff I was keeping in case of an emergency,” Takeda said almost immediately, “so I guess I could give it to you as a thank you for stopping me from becoming demon food.”

“You already bought me some food,” the red-headed amateur magus responded without thinking.

“Not much a thank you given what you did,” Sosuke stated with a blank expression, “even the second-hand equipment isn’t much of one.”

“Yeah, well I doubt Emiya here would accept it if I bought some for him,” the Hunter stated without a seconds doubt and Shirou found himself somewhat inwardly frowning at the fact the man was right, “he isn’t even accepting an offer to fix that cut on his face.”

“Like I said, it’s better saved for people who need it,” his statement was instant and earned an amused smile off the man he had saved previously.

“See,” and with that, Shirou found himself once again frowning at how the man seemed to be able to figure out how he’d respond to offers even though they’d only met earlier that very day, “still, I’d feel better knowing you’ve got some equipment at the very least… provided you don’t do something stupid like go out to fight demons before you’ve recovered.”

Even Shirou had to admit that going out to fight demons with his body feeling numb leaped right over the line separating helpfulness and stupidity.

“I’m not that stupid,” he pointed out with a small glare of his own.

“Then come on,” Takeda said as he and Sosuke rose from their seats, “let’s go get you my old gear.”

Shirou felt like protesting but didn’t get a chance to as he found himself being manhandled up and out of the Hunter Association and towards one of the small rooms lining the walls of the underground.

Upon being taken into the room, he found himself being moved in front of a case that was quickly opened to reveal what was obviously some old armour that resembled the hockey-pad like uniforms worn by the majority of Hunters, along with a sword, a handgun and several clips of ammunition.

 “Go on, it might not fit quite right, but it’s better than nothing,” Takeda told him firmly.

“That’s…” he didn’t know how to respond to that demand.

“Besides, as much as I hate to admit it,” the man spoke with a nervous smile, “I’m not really that good with swords or handguns… I really need the stopping power and spread of a shotgun.”

Shirou found himself growing confused at that.

“But then, why do you still have this?” he asked, from what the man said, it was for an emergency, but why keep equipment he was no good with?

“Because he likes to pretend he’s badass enough to use them,” Sosuke stated with an amused smile.

“Shut up,” the small blush that spread across the recovering man’s face said all that needed to be said about the authenticity of that statement.

“Still, given that I heard you decapitated that Lham Dearg, I think you’d probably be better with a sword than this idiot here,” the other man said with a smirk still on his face.

Shirou found himself silently grateful at the two’s interaction, it reminded him that if he had failed to save Takeda, then it would have affected others as well.

It didn’t change the fact that he felt awkward accepting so much from the man.

“I’m still not sure about this,” he finally let out, “I mean, this doesn’t seem like the sort of thing you’d do for anyone that saved you.”

After all, if they were this friendly with everyone that saved them, then wouldn’t that wipe them clean of things to give away?

“You’re right,” he found himself slightly jerking at that admission, “if you had been another Hunter, then I probably wouldn’t be as grateful as I am right now.”

Shirou found himself narrowing his eyes at that.

“Because if it had been another Hunter, then it would’ve been expected,” the man continued, causing the teen to frown in confusion, “a Hunter makes a living using and killing demons, so saving each other is a pretty normal thing.”

“But you’re not a Hunter, you’re a civilian,” Sosuke spoke up and Shirou found himself continuing to frown, “what did the others do when that demon attacked Takeda?  I bet they probably ran and left him to die.”

He couldn’t deny that, it was pretty much was what happened after all.

“But you didn’t,” the man continued, “you decided to risk your life for a stranger, without any weapons, without any armour and without a single demon to your name… that’s more than can be said for most people.”

The young red-head found himself incredibly uncomfortable with that particular praise… mainly because he wished he could deny it, but he honestly couldn’t given what had actually happened.

“So if you’re planning on getting involved outside, then I want to at least give you something to help you survive,” and with that statement, Shirou finally found himself giving in.

“… thanks,” and with that, he accepted the opened case and pulled out the sword and gun in order to try and get a feel for them.

He wasn’t particularly familiar with guns, but he could tell that the handgun was solidly crafted but not too heavy to be cumbersome.

The sword was something he was much more comfortable with courtesy of it taking a form similar to the Bokutou he used to train with in his dojo back home…

He couldn’t stop himself from feeling a sense of pain well up at that thought.

Fuji-nee had probably worried herself to death after his sudden disappearance… and if she hadn’t…

If she hadn’t then she had probably been killed in the Nuclear Armageddon.

“Hey?  You okay?” he immediately pulled himself from those thoughts as he turned to face the pair of men that had taken him there.

“Yeah, nothing you need to worry about,” he responded without a seconds hesitation… they didn’t need to know about his lost family and he was certain he’d get over it soon enough.

Especially if he kept himself busy.

The men didn’t look like they believed him but they wouldn’t get this out of him.

“Thank you for the gear,” he told them quickly as he started to remove them from the case.

“You can keep the case,” the statement was spoken quickly and Shirou found himself once again sighing at their decision to gift him with so much… but if he was right, they wouldn’t budge on that either.

So he repacked the case and closed it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he nodded at the repeated question.

“Yeah, just got to go and get some sleep,” he told them calmly as he made to leave the room, “numbness is acting up again, see you later.”

And without any further words, he left the room and made his way back to the room he was currently using to rest up in.

“Hey,” he stalled as he heard Hana’s voice call out to him as he neared the door, causing him to turn and face the store, “I take it things went well… or maybe not.”

He couldn’t stop himself from sighing in response.

“It’s nothing,” he told her without any real conviction behind those words.

“… homesick?” she asked and he found himself flinching involuntarily, “come on, talk.”

“Look, it’s nothing you need to worry about,” he told her firmly, “just… just let me have some time alone.”

And without waiting any longer, he entered the room he was using and headed over to the futon laying on the floor before putting the case down next to it.

Sitting down on the makeshift bed, he found himself sighing once again as he tried to push the thoughts of home out of his mind.

He had more important things to do right now, such as trying to figure out how to deal with the numbness that still plagued his body.

And so, he started getting to work once more.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

Lham Dearg found himself once again looking at the weapons that lay in the empty field of dirt.

When he had first appeared in this place, there had simply been four swords, each one looking identical to the four that he had.

But now, now the number had grown, there were now about an extra twenty bladed weapons littering the ground with the latest addition being a worn Japanese Style blade.

None of them were as good as the first four though… he most certainly wasn’t jealous of some of the others that had shown up, not at all.

They weren’t like his swords after all.

His swords were obviously superior to other swords, and to admit that these copies of his swords were inferior to some of the other weapons that showed up would mean admitting that his swords weren’t the best.

Which they were.

Because they were his swords.

End of discussion.

Of course, the real question wasn’t the quality of the swords, but _why_ they kept appearing out of nowhere.

What was it that caused them to keep popping in?

And if they kept popping in like that, when would the field become filled to its limit?

Was there even an end to the world?  Because he sure as hell couldn’t see it.

There wasn’t even a horizon, there was just an endless expanse of empty space and an empty sky sitting above it.

Maybe he would ask his new master what this place was the next time the boy summoned him.

Provided the boy _did_ summon him again.

He was pretty sure the kid wasn’t comfortable with his presence, then again, he had tried to decapitate the boy when they first met, so maybe he was holding a grudge?

Either way, he was curious about this world, why it existed within a human and exactly why it had trapped him within it.

At least he wasn’t hungry and since that was the case, it meant he would be more than capable of waiting patiently for the next time he was summoned.

Hopefully he’d even get the chance to fight something then.


	3. Chapter 3

Shirou could do little more than release a sigh of contentment as he stretched and rose from his bed.

It had definitely taken some work, but he had finally managed to deal with the numbness that came from the involuntary opening of his magic circuits.

Of course, the fact that he currently had a demon taking up residence in one of them was still uncomfortable, though he could feel himself growing used to it.

Looking down to the case he had been given, he quickly opened it before pulling out the padded armour contained within and starting to put it on.

It was surprisingly heavy, and also rather cumbersome, it was obvious that the armour was designed almost purely for defence with no real thought behind quick movements and agility.

But that was something he could probably fix.

Sparing a quick look towards the other occupants of the room, he confirmed they were all still asleep before saying a couple of words and concentrating.

“Trace On.”

With those two words, he activated one of his magic circuits and started to moved the Prana into the gear, reinforcing it before starting to alter it’s form, spreading the weight more evenly across his body and loosening up the joints to grant himself more flexibility.

The armour would probably be less protective after these modifications, but the magecraft reinforcing it would probably make up for any deficiencies in that defence.

Now that his armour had been altered to fit him better, he picked up the sword and strapped it to his waist before putting the handgun within easy reach holstered on the other side of his hip.

Sure he had never used a gun before, but he’d probably get plenty of practice with it in a world like this.

He would still need some basic training with it before he felt comfortable using it though.

At least there would probably be plenty of people capable of giving him advice and information given how commonly used they were in this era.

Finally feeling ready for the day, he proceeded to leave the room noting that Hana was not yet in her little booth as he made his way to the Hunter Association to see if there were any jobs he would be able to take.

The Hunter Association was clearly less busy than it had been the other times he had entered it… not surprising given the time of day it was right now.

However, he wasn’t the first Hunter there, rather there were already a few who looked like they hadn’t yet properly woken up or hadn’t even gone to sleep.

“You’re up early,” the bartender, a much younger man than the usual one spoke casually and Shirou found himself rubbing the back of his head out of habit.

“Yeah, I don’t usually sleep that late,” he said with a shrug, “so… uh, how do you take jobs here?”

“Do you have a phone?” the bartender asked and he found himself releasing a sigh as he knew exactly where this conversation was going to go.

“No.”

“Then you probably should just leave them,” yep, it was going exactly where he thought it would.

“I’ve already had this conversation with several other people already,” he stated bluntly, “I know what I’m getting myself into already, so just tell me how to get a job.”

“They’re downloaded onto a phone via Bluetooth,” the bartender said with a blank stare, “so you pretty much need a phone to see the available jobs.”

That… was problematic.

Though in the end, it just meant that he would probably have to gather resources when he was trying to help people instead of getting payment for helping them.

So it was probably a better situation anyway.

Provided he could learn who needed what help.

“Well, I guess it could be worse,” he admitted with a shrug before hearing the door open behind him.

“Oh, Emiya-san, you’re awake,” he immediately turned to face Hana as he entered the bar-like room with a surprised look on her face.

“Good morning Hana-san,” he responded without hesitation.

“You feeling better today?” she asked him as she walked over to the bar, and he found himself nodding in response.

“Yeah, so I was going to see about getting a job here but…” he trailed off.

“You don’t have a phone to accept them with,” she ended for him, earning a nod of acknowledgement from him.

“Yeah, guess I’ll just have to gather things to make up for the lack of payment,” he said, causing her to shake her head in the negative.

“Actually, I got something for you… just need breakfast and maybe… a morning coffee?” she told him while clearly questioning the barkeeper over the availability of the caffeinated drink.

“We still have some left,” the man told her with a shrug.

“Great,” and with that confirmed, she watched the man move to prepared a morning meal for her.

Shirou couldn’t stop himself from wondering just what she meant about having something for him, from the way she spoke about it, it sounded like it would be something to help him accept the jobs at the Hunter Association but he was under the impression that getting a hold of a phone was a hard task at the best of times.

“Hana-san, you said you had something for me,” he decided to ask, earning a chuckle from the woman.

“Yep, I got a phone you can use,” her response made him frown.

“I thought you said,” he started only for her to cut him off.

“That you can’t get your hands on _Smartphones_ without entering a waiting list,” she said while placing emphasis on the part about the phones, “but there are older models that can’t run the Demon Summoning App that _can_ still send and receive messages and accept the files containing job info… those are generally not thought about since they’re practically useless without the App.”

Shirou found his eyes widening at the implications of that.

He could summon demons on his own, so he didn’t need the App, which meant that he could easily use phones that weren’t being horded by the organisations littering Tokyo.

“But you… I’m sure you could get some use from one,” she continued and he found himself sighing in gratitude.

“Thank you Hana-san,” he let out with a smile, after all, getting paid for helping people would allow him to spend more time actually helping people instead of hunting for money he needed to survive.

“Don’t thank me yet,” she told him with a tired smile, “I’ve got a job for you in exchange for it.

Shirou found himself focusing on her at those words.

“What do you want me to do?” he asked and she immediately started to tell him.

“I want the meat of a Katakirauwa,” she told him and he could do little more than stare at her blankly, “uh… they’re… uh… are you familiar with something called a pig?”

Shirou found himself blinking at that.

“Uh… I know they eat pretty much anything,” he responded with confusion.

“But do you know what they look like?” she asked him and he found himself frowning.

“Why wouldn’t I?” he said and immediately noticed the way the bartender seemed to slip up when he said that, while Hana looked at him in surprise before a look of realisation crossed her face.

“Oh yeah, you’re from…” and at that, she trailed off before shaking her head clear, “sorry, it’s just that the people about my age and younger tend to have no reason to learn about them.”

No reason…

Shirou found himself inwardly frowning at that statement.  It made sense that in a place like this, some knowledge would be lost due to lack of necessity.

“I mean, when I first saw a picture of a pig in an old book,” she continued, “I remember my first thought was that it looked like a Katakirauwa… but I guess it’d be the other way around for you, wouldn’t it?”

“Yeah,” he admitted with a soft smile, “so I take it I just have to look for a pig-demon then.”

“Pretty much,” she confirmed for him.

He wouldn’t complain if he was just hunting for some demon pork.

“Any idea where I can find one?” he decided to venture, earning a shrug from the woman.

“They usually wander between here and Kinshicho,” she told him without any hesitation, “and on top of that, I’ve also heard that they’re really weak, so killing one should be really easy.”

“Are you seriously sending this guy out without protection?” the bartender spoke up, “as weak as a Kata is, there are other things out there that are more than capable of killing a human.”

“He’s killed a Lham Dearg without a phone,” she told the man, earning several blinks of surprise off the man, “plus, there’s apparently something else he’s capable of that makes going out safer for him than normal people.”

The bartender seemed uncertain but released a sigh of defeat before handing over a bowl of… something and a mug of coffee.

“Thanks,” and with that, the woman that was going to give him a phone started to eat, “have you already eaten Shirou?”

“Ah, not yet,” he admitted with a shrug, “I was more concerned about how to find a job.”

“Well, I remember hearing that breakfast,” she started and he decided to finish it for her.

“The most important meal of the day,” she seemed almost amused by the fact that he knew about it, “I know, back home I always made sure to make as filling a breakfast as possible.”

Saying that made him remember the absence of Taiga but he pushed that down, he had more important things to do than mope about the life that no longer existed for him.

“Then get something, you’re going to be a Hunter now right?  So you’re going to have to make sure you’re up to snuff,” she told him and he found himself smiling before ordering his own meal.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

Shirou had to admit, his new phone was certainly more high tech than he had expected.

He had never gotten a Cell-phone before, preferring to use phone booths or his house phone to contact others, but he hadn’t expected what he had been given.

It was small and he had initially thought it lacked a keypad, before finding out that it slid out into a full keyboard.

And while the phone couldn’t run the Demon Summoning Program, it did at least have a way of storing and reading the information that was used to hand out “quests” as the Hunters liked to call them.

Of course, the fact that he already had one he was expected to fulfil was a double edged sword.

On one hand, it gave him some way of being useful, on the other, it meant that the rest of the jobs he’d managed to download from the Hunter Association were something he’d have to put on hold for now.

**_Alright Emiya-san, in exchange for giving you this phone, I want the meat of a Katakirauwa._ **

**_They’re usually found between Ueno and Kinshicho._ **

**_Since this is for myself, I only need the one corpse._ **

It certainly wasn’t the most exciting job that was for certain, and he had the feeling he probably wasn’t going to be doing much in it, but it was a job at least and he wasn’t going to turn down one, especially when he had already been paid for it.

And so he found himself waking along the street, his weapons at his waist as he readied himself for any potential attack.

The streets themselves made him feel uneasy, he didn’t know if he’d ever get used to seeing the run down roads, the torn vehicles and what he was certain was decades old bloodstains littering what should’ve been a vibrant city, bustling with life.

He could feel unease permeating his body as he continued to walk along through the area, unsure if the unease stemmed from the world he was currently in, or if it was like it was back when Lham Dearg had attacked…

And with that thought he felt for the resistance in his magic circuit and pushed it out in a flourish of Golden Lightning once again.

“Oh?  I see you chose to summon me once more,” the distinctly Scottish voice called out and Shirou found himself once again swallowing nervously.

“Yes, I have,” he stated firmly, as the sword wielding demon looked around the area.

“I see you have no escort this time,” it stated bluntly and he nodded, “then shall I assume that you chose to bring me forth to ensure your safety here?”

“Ah… more like, make sure I’m not ambushed or outnumbered too greatly,” he responded after taking a couple of seconds to think over what he was going to say to the demon.

“Very well, if that is your command then it shall be done,” the legless ghost-like demon stated with a strength of will that made it clear it had no reservations over obeying the instructions.

“Uh…” he really didn’t know how to respond to such a firm decision to aid him but he finally settled for a simple response, “thank you.”

The demon seemed to almost scoff at his thanks but he released a breath before moving further to the East and towards a small bridge that separated the Ueno region from the Kinshicho area.

Looking to his left, he saw what the people of the city called ‘Sky Tower’, which he would admit was a rather appropriate name for it given that the building was tall enough that what was obviously a viewing platform was almost embedded in the Ceiling, while lots of what he could only assume was rock shaped itself around and down the tower.

The fact that it was there, meant that he would have to cross a bridge to his right before he reached Kinshicho.

He eventually came across the bridge and found himself crossing it without any confrontation, something he found to be unusual given that he had been expecting to see at least one demon by then.

Traversing the streets caused him to grow even more uneasy as he slowly came to the conclusion that it was simply too quiet.

Which most likely meant an ambush.

Stopping in the middle of the street, he started to look around, searching for any indication that there were stalkers trailing him.

“Is there a problem Master?” Lham Dearg asked and he found himself frowning in response.

“It’s too quiet,” he stated bluntly, earning a nod off the demon.

“Understandable,” the demon stated and he found himself focusing his attention on it, “we are currently on a quiet road… most of my kind would choose to stalk areas with more activity.”

Shirou could do little more than release a sigh of defeat at that explanation.

“I was told that something called a…” he chose to pull out his phone and read his job post before trying to say the name of the demon, “Katakirauwa, could usually be found around here.”

“Naturally, if they go anywhere with more competition, they’d get eaten,” the Scottish Demon stated without hesitation, “they are the weakest of demons after all.”

Shirou found himself frowning at that.

He was beginning to wonder if Hana had given him this job just so he’d accept the phone rather than because she actually wanted the meat.

But he had already accepted the job, so he’d get a Katakirauwa even if it wasn’t that dangerous.

Turning his attention back to the road, he proceeded to continue on his way towards Kinshicho, trying to ignore the feeling that permeated his being.

“Were you looking for a Katakirauwa?” he immediately looked at the sword wielding demon that was pointing in a direction to the side, “because there is one there.”

Looking in the direction that was indicated, Shirou immediately noticed what he had previously missed.

And he instantly understood what Hana had meant by it looking like a pig, since the only things separating it from one were the facts that it had one ear, scars on its body, dark purple skin and the fact it was floating a few feet off the ground.

“Thank you,” he told the demon before pulling his sword out of its sheath and making his way towards the pig demon.

It didn’t take long before the demon he was hunting noticed him and then glanced behind him before it started to back off.

Shirou almost grimaced as he noticed it moving away, clearly it wasn’t going to attack him or Lham Dearg but he wasn’t going to let it escape.

He started to rush towards it only for it to flee at a pace that outstripped his own.

That made him grimace, he had hoped it wouldn’t be fast enough to escape but it seemed that was wishful thinking.

So he had two choices to try and deal with it.

The first was to use Reinforcement to enhance his body beyond its normal limits, an ability he wasn’t confident in his ability to perform without damaging his muscles.

And the second was to use the gun strapped to his waist.

He wished he didn’t have to make that choice, the ‘training’ he had managed to get with the firearm could easily be summed up with ‘take off the safety, point it at your enemy and pull the trigger’.

That was nowhere near as thorough as he had hoped it would be.

But right now, he didn’t really have a choice but to use it if he wanted to catch the source of food he was aiming for.

Pulling it out, he found himself focusing, his breath evening out as he pointed the barrel towards the target.

Clenching his finger, he was almost brought out of his trance by the crack that came with the firing of the weapon, but the result was clear as he heard a squeal of pain as the best stumbled at the hit.

He couldn’t stop himself from continuing to rush towards the demonic pig as it began to move quicker once again.

And so he took another shot.

This time, it didn’t just stumble, it proceeded to hit the ground before starting to crawl away.

He was beginning to regret this mission.

Sure it was going to become food, but it didn’t stop him from feeling bad about killing it given how pathetic it was right now.

“Sorry…” he said as he reached it and prepared to strike it down with his sword.

“Then why are you doing this?!” his eyes widened as the demon cried out in coherent Japanese.

He found himself freezing as he realized the demon wasn’t just like any other animal.

“Sucker,” the next thing he knew, the demon lunged off the ground and directly at him, only to be struck by a sword that came from next to him, severing its head with a single swift motion.

“W-what?” he turned to see Lham Dearg, its sword still extended and a frown marring its face.

“Why did you hesitate?” it sounded confused but Shirou was more concerned about the fact that he could feel another one of his Magic Circuits being clogged up as something new bound itself to it.

He already understood what he was feeling.

“Master, I shall ask again, why did you hesitate?” Lham Dearg spoke once again and this time, Shirou released a sigh.

“I wasn’t expecting it to talk,” he admitted, “I thought it was just like an animal.”

“You left yourself open to attack,” the sword wielding demon stated firmly and Shirou simply nodded in acknowledgement.

“Hearing it talk made me feel bad about hunting it down,” he told the Scottish Ghost with a frown.

“Foolish,” his eyes narrowed at that, “even the least violent of demons won’t hesitate to mercilessly slaughter you if you display any sign of weakness.”

Shirou found himself averting his eyes from the impaled demon, as much as he wanted to say otherwise, he wasn’t as familiar with demons as the being that was currently bound to him.

“Well… thanks for saving me,” he decided to say grudgingly.

“Keep your thanks,” the demon stated with narrowed eyes, “you are more useful to me alive, as such, if you wish to thank me, do your best to not die.”

The third-rate magus simply let out a sigh of defeat as he heard it claim that.

For all its helpfulness, Lham Dearg was still only doing what it did because it benefitted itself.

And so, with that thought in his head, he turned to the corpse of the pig-like Katakirauwa and proceeded to pick it up by the legs, he would have to carry it all the way back to Ueno, but as long as he didn’t come across any aggressive demons on the way, it wouldn’t be that hard.

And if he did, he at least had Lham Dearg there to help him fight.

“Well… I guess it’s time to return to Ueno,” he said without any fanfare as he started to walk back along the road he came along.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

Travelling along the road in a demon-infested, post-apocalyptic, underground Tokyo was an experience he wasn’t all that happy with when things went quietly.

At least when it was quiet, all he had to worry about was the paranoia that burrowed into his brain.

“Master, I suggest we run,” he heard Lham Dearg state without hesitation as he came across a ten-foot tall, ram-headed giant with a white wool coat and grey skin.

“HUMAN DIE!” the demon cried out as it smashed its enormous fists against the ground where he had been standing just a second prior to the crushing blow.

“We’re not running,” he told the Scottish Swordsman without hesitation, sure, his quarry was still slung over his back like a sack, but this foe was clearly too dangerous to leave be.

“Master, I feel that is an unwise decision,” his personal demon told him without any hesitation in its tone, “that is a Fomorian, an Irish Giant that existed alongside the Tuatha Dé Danann.”

Shirou couldn’t really care about what the foe was, outside of the fact it was attacking him simply for being human.

Which meant it was dangerous to anyone that came across it.

“STOP RUNNING AND LET ME CRUSH YOU HUMAN!!!” Shirou found himself staring blankly as he moved away from the giant sheep-person, if it honestly thought he was just going to stand there and let it kill him, then it was even more stupid than it looked.

Releasing one pair of the Katakirauwa’s legs, he pulled out his handgun, took aim for the beasts eye and pulled the trigger.

He almost grimaced when his shot hit its target perfectly, causing a spurt of blood to come from the injured socket.

“GRAH!  HUMAN STOP FIGHTING BACK AND LET ME KILL YOU!!!” it cried out in clear fury.

Shirou found himself both amazed at how little being shot in the eye did to it, and unimpressed by the complete idiocy the foe was displaying.

“Can you stop complaining about how bad an idea this is, and just help?” he asked the swordsman who simply let out a sigh of defeat before rushing up to the Fomorian and cleaving at it with a move that felt familiar.

“GRR… LITTLE DEMON DIE!” the Irish titan stated without hesitation as it moved its arms to strike down the Scottish Ghost.

Shirou made sure to shoot the back of its head while it was turning, knocking it off its swing in the process.

“BAD HUMAN!” the beast declared, “HUMAN KEEPS FIGHTING INSTEAD OF DYING!!!”

And once again, Shirou found himself wondering if the demon even knew anything other than complaints about humans.

So he shot it again.

“OW!!!” he was definitely beginning to wonder if he had a natural talent with a gun now, what with how he hadn’t missed a target even once with it.

However, he was definitely beginning to see why his current ally had advised against fighting the beast, given how easily it seemed to be shrugging off what should be fatal strikes.

And then he felt his blood run cold as the foe managed to land a strike on Lham Dearg.

Just one hit.

That was all it took to knock the demonic swordsman down, though it was at least clear that the Scottish Ghost was still alive even if it was obviously injured by the strike.

Without a seconds hesitation, Shirou found himself tugging on the tether that connected it to his magic circuit, forcibly dragging it back in before deciding to drop the Katakirauwa to free himself from the burden as he pulled out his sword.

He silently wondered how Lham Dearg would react to being dragged out of the fray but dismissed those thoughts from his mind.

Dealing with this monster was a far more pressing concern at the moment.

“SMALL DEMON VANISH?!” the sheep like monstrosity cried out in clear confusion, “WHERE SMALL DEMON GO?!”

Moving away from the Katakirauwa corpse, Shirou proceeded to shoot the creature he was facing off against again, an action that drew its attention back to him.

“HUMAN MUST DIE!” it cried out without a seconds hesitation, the disappearance of Lham Dearg clearly stripped from its mind as it charged towards him.

He already knew that the beast wasn’t slow, it was actually rather fast all things considered, the only reason he was capable of dodging it before was because of how much it telegraphed its attacks.

So it didn’t come as a surprise to him that it managed to strike out too fast for him to evade, forcing him to try and block the strike… an action that was effortlessly crushed through as he found himself being thrown back several feet.

“NOW HUMAN BECOME FOOD!” he really wished the beast would stop yelling like that.

He was certain he was bruising from the strike, though he was also certain the impact had somehow been softened by something given how far he had been thrown from the hit.

Probably the armour.

So he pushed himself to his feet.

“HUMAN STILL ALIVE?” it actually sounded genuinely confused but he pushed that out of his head as he considered his options.

He was clearly not inflicting enough damage to the beast to take it down, on top of that, he was alone and the demon was faster than him so he couldn’t really keep his distance without a distraction.

There was only really one option he could think of but even that was risky.

But definitely not as risky as becoming  this beasts punching bag.

“Trace On.”

Opening his circuits, he started to mould his prana throughout his body, filling in imperfections in his muscles and allowing it to flow into both the sword and gun in his hands, reinforcing everything far beyond their standard levels.

He waited for any tearing that might happen from overloading, but outside of a pinprick sensation that permeated his whole body, he couldn’t identify any serious issues caused by the power flowing through his body.

Even so, he would have to end this quickly.

Pushing off the ground with his reinforced muscles, he jumped backwards as he took aim and shot another round into the beasts head, this time the foe staggered at the strike before regaining its balance and rushing him once more.

This time however, Shirou’s reinforced body allowed him to react far faster than before.

Dodging under the beasts swing, he struck out with his blade, severing the muscles in the creatures arm before darting out of its range.

“GAH!  HOW DID HUMAN GET STRONGER?” it asked as it raised both of its arms into the air, despite one of them being in a state where it should be impossible to move it move it normally.

Shirou felt himself swallow nervously at that as he came to a simple realisation.

Demon bodies didn’t work like human bodies.

It would explain why a bullet to the eye caused such little damage to the creature… it was simply a case of it not really being any different to hitting its gut.

Which meant that precise aiming wasn’t going to help that much against demons.

At least, that seemed like it might be the case.

Given that he had noticed the enemy stumble from being struck in the head, it was possible that he was partially wrong.

Taking a deep breath, Shirou put his gun back into its holster as he decided to try and inflict as much damage in a single strike as he could, putting both of his hands on his blade in a manner reminiscent of how Lham Dearg struck the beast.

Putting all of his focus into the situation at hand, he watched as the giant demon charged at him once again, waiting for it to get within range.

One strike.

“GRAH!!!” all of his strength, poured into a single cleave that struck true, sliced straight through the body of the ram-like demon and his eye twitched.

“Not again…” he found himself groaning as he felt a new tether attach itself to his last free magic circuit, leaving him with three circuits that felt like they were now clogged up by a demon each.

He just hoped it would stop now that he had no more free.

Releasing a sigh, he noted that the Fomorian’s body was still there, just as the Katakirauwa’s had remained and even Lham Dearg’s had been left lying on the street back when he first killed it.

That alone made him question exactly what he was doing to them that made them enter his magic circuits.

He shook his head clear, he wasn’t an expert on any of that stuff, so he would just have to push it from his mind.

Plus, even if his demons were inhabiting his circuits, he could still feel the prana flowing around them and could still use it if the fact his reinforcement was still active was anything to go by.

Releasing the flow of prana through his body, he let out a grimace as the needle-like stinging remained.

He would definitely have to rest when he got back to Ueno.

But for now, he just picked up the pig-demon’s corpse and started back on his way to the underground he had woken up in earlier that day.

 

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

 

Lham Dearg was unsure of what to think.

His master had recalled him to wherever he was kept in the middle of a battle against a demon above what they should’ve been risking themselves against.

However, he couldn’t stop himself from watching on at what was happening before him.

“ME NOT HUNGRY NOW.”

“Good, cause I’m not too fond of being turned into a pork casserole.”

“SOUND TASTY!”

“Piss off you oversized Lamb Chop!”

When he had first been recalled, he had been mildly surprised to find a Katakirauwa within the field of limited blades, more specifically, the very same one he had slain for his new master.

But then, the surprise was when the Fomorian that had managed to hit him hard enough to knock him back had appeared too.

Which meant his new master had somehow managed to defeat it without any further aid.

It also raised the question of if his master would be gaining every demon he defeated or not.

However, he doubted he’d remain relevant for long so he would simply have to impart whatever teaching he could before the boy decided to keep him in this world.

Hopefully he’d at least get more swords to look at over time.

“Oi!  You, Lham Dearg!” he was pulled from his thoughts by the voice of the rather obtuse Katakirauwa, “where the hell are we?”

“I do not know,” he admitted without shame, “I know merely that this is where the demons my master slays exist.”

“You mean that sucker of a kid?” it asked and he found himself nodding without hesitation.

“Indeed, he was rather adamant about saving a stranger when we first encountered each other,” it was an obvious statement really, “he even told me that he hesitated to kill you because he did not know your kind could speak.”

“HUMAN STRONG,” his attention was drawn to the Fomorian, “GOT UP AFTER BEING HIT BY ME… THEN GOT STRONGER AND KILLED ME.”

That… was a surprising statement by the Irish demon.

The mere fact his master survived was unusual enough given what he saw of the boy’s ability when they fought together.

But the idea that he got stronger after being hit, combined with this strange world…

He couldn’t stop a smirk from gracing his face.

It seemed his master was hiding something.

Now the question was, how to find out exactly _what_ he was hiding and why he was hiding it from everyone.

He would just have to wait until he was summoned again.


	4. Chapter 4

*Thud*

Shirou stared blankly at Hana as he placed the corpse of the Katakirauwa on the counter just outside of her stall.

"Here you go," he stated as he let out a tired sigh… his entire body was still stinging after all.

"You look like shit," her comment only made him sigh more, "how much of a fight did this thing put up?"

"You didn't tell me it could speak," he stated with a hint of annoyance seeping through his tone.

"Even so, I'm surprised it managed to push you as far as it clearly did," her statement made him blink as he realized what she was talking about.

"That wasn't the pig," he told her without a second thought, "it was the Fomorian I got into a fight with that did this."

"… a Fomorian," she repeated blankly.

"Yeah… you know, giant sheep demon, very aggressive," he stated only for her to cut him off.

"I know what a Fomorian is," she stated with an eye twitching in clear irritation, "what I want to know… is did you try to run?"

He could do little more than stare at her in response.

"It was dangerous," his statement seemed to make her sag in relief, "of course I wouldn't run."

She facepalmed.

"You frickin' idiot," she stated with a bland tone that conveyed her displeasure at his statement, "if something is dangerous, then you're supposed to run."

"Yeah, well I'm not going to run from something dangerous," he told her firmly.

"… Are you sure you're not a Gaian?" she asked, "because that sounds like something one of those guys would do."

"I told you, I'm not even from this time," he responded without a seconds hesitation.

"Yeah… doesn't stop you from coming off as being like those psychos in the Ring of Gaia," she stated without any hesitation, "refusing to back down from a strong opponent, just because it would make them 'weak'."

"That's not like me at all," he said with total conviction, "I fought it because it was a danger to anyone it came across."

"It's still idiotic," the response was clear and Shirou found himself simply choosing to give up trying to convince her otherwise.

"Well… I'm still alive and it is…" he was about to say dead, but he wasn't entirely certain that was correct.

"… don't tell me you've somehow managed to pull another Lham Dearg," the shopkeeper said with a blank expression, causing him to release a sigh of defeat.

"I think so," he admitted, "I haven't actually checked yet, but I think I can summon it… and the Kata."

"… okay, then can you summon the Katakirauwa?" she asked him and he released a sigh as he checked the Circuit with the least resistance before pushing it out.

A flash of Golden Lightning signalled the summoning of the demonic pig, though Shirou found himself somewhat surprised by the lack of concern the residents showed to that display.

"YA BLOODY MUTTON BASTARD!" Shirou found himself blinking in surprise at the first words that cried out upon the creatures summoning, "… wait… where the hell is that Fomorian asshole?"

"So… I think it's safe to say that you've probably got the Fomor too," Hana stated with a wry grin as everyone stared at the pig-like demon.

"I guess so," he admitted without hesitation.

"And it's corpse is still here too," she pointed out with amusement, "I wonder if that body will stick around as well."

"Wait… what?" the demon sounded almost worried now, especially when it looked at its own corpse, "oh hell no! I don't want to be used as a stew!"

Shirou found himself releasing a sigh as he heard that.

"Not your choice pork chop," Hana stated with an amused smile, "besides, this body's long dead so why does it matter what we do with it?"

Shirou found himself frowning at that.

If the demon's original body was still there, then did that mean that the body he was summoning was just a projection?

And if it was, then wouldn't that have caused Lham Dearg to vanish upon that hit from the Fomorian?

It also made him wonder what would happen if one of his demons died while summoned… would they just return to him or would they die for real?

"Hey, Hana-san," he decided to ask, causing the woman to turn her attention back to him, "Katakirauwa are some of the weakest demons out there aren't they?"

"Oi! I resent that!"

"Yeah, why?" her response was quick and clear.

"Because I'm wondering what will happen if a demon I have dies," he admitted without hesitation, causing the creature to freeze.

"H-hey! C-come on… you're not still sore over me attackin' you are ya?" the demon sounded almost worried.

"Well, if you lose a Katakirauwa… well, no one wants to recruit one anyway so it won't hurt," the shopkeeper stated without hesitation.

"C-come on…. I'm sorry for calling you a sucker, just stop talking about that okay?!" it was definitely worried and Shirou found himself releasing a sigh.

"You know what, I give up," he admitted, "killing you would make me feel bad… again."

"Oh, thank you ," the creature said in response, "you truly are kind, and merciful and a great master!"

Shirou felt his eye twitch at that way the demon said that.

It sounded far too sycophantic to be genuine.

"Stop it," he stated firmly, "you're just making me want to try it out anyway."

That shut the demon up.

Looking back at Hana, he found her staring blankly at him.

"Seriously?" she asked and he found himself frowning in confusion, "it admitted to calling you a sucker… and you still fall for its lies?"

"H-hoi!"

"I'm not falling for its lies," he stated without any hesitation, "I'd simply feel bad about killing something so pathetic."

"… I don't know if that's better or worse," the pig-like demon stated with uncertainty clear in its voice.

"Worse," Hana answered it without hesitation before turning back to him, "you sure you don't want to find out what happens to it when it dies? I mean, if its already lost one body then what's the problem with it losing another?"

"H-hey! Shut up lady!" the demon cried out before it started to splutter.

Looking at his food type demon, Shirou had to blink when he saw a familiar hunter sticking a knife into the back of its head.

"S-Sosuke-san? Why did you do that?" he found himself asking even as the pig fell to the floor and he felt the tether to his circuit pulling something back in before his prana started to drain slowly enough that he probably wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't been paying so much attention to it.

"You seemed to be having trouble deciding what to do," he stated with a shrug before kneeling down to the Kata's corpse, "so what happened?"

He wondered how to phrase it but eventually settled on a vague description.

"I think I still have it… but it seems like it needs to recover," he admitted after a couple of seconds.

"Really?" the man sounded almost amused, "do you know what that means?"

He had to blink in confusion at that.

"You've got your own personal meat vendor," the man continued with a smirk.

Shirou honestly didn't know how to respond to that.

He wasn't too fond of the idea of summoning a demon just to eat it after all.

"Heh, remind me to give you a call if I ever feel like pork again," Hana spoke with amusement of her own and Shirou found himself sinking at the fact he was now being treated like a butcher.

"Yeah, he could make a killing selling pork bowls," the hunter said and Shirou found himself releasing a frustrated sigh.

"Look, I don't want to just summon a demon so I can eat it," he pointed out earning a snort off Sosuke.

"Shirou," Hana however sounded far more serious, causing him to turn his attention towards her, "I get it, you're not used to this, but you're going to have to learn to start taking advantage of whatever you can if you want to survive here… so don't dismiss the possibility of eating your Kata… keep the option open just in case you have no other choice."

He couldn't stop himself from looking away from her.

She was right after all.

This wasn't a world he was used to and as much as he might want to value whatever demons were under his command as more than just food, there was no guarantee a famine wouldn't hit and he would be forced to eat the pig and that wouldn't really be fair.

He blinked at that thought.

"Uh… hey, I have a question for you," he started to ask, causing the two who he was talking to, to look at him with raised eyebrows, "are Fomorians edible?"

"Yeah, though they can be a bit tough to chew," Hana told him after a few seconds of thought, "they don't have a bad flavour but they don't beat the Pork of a Katakirauwa… or the lean muscle of a Nue, or the sweetness of a Mamedanuki's scrotum."

Shirou found himself coughing violently at that last one.

"You okay?" she asked him and he found himself looking at her.

"Can't you just call it a Skin like everyone else?" Shirou found himself turning to face Sosuke as the man asked that single question.

"I have a feeling Shirou doesn't know what it is," Hana said with a smirk directed towards the other man.

"Oh come on, who doesn't know that's what a Mamedanuki Skin is?" the man claimed and Shirou decided to pipe in.

"I didn't," the mere fact that the man was treating it like it was a perfectly normal thing was probably the worst part of the whole situation… it wasn't like he hadn't heard of people cooking and eating such things before, but never in such a casual manner that denoted it as a daily occurrence.

The man looked at him with disbelief clear in his eyes but Shirou decided he would rather change the topic.

"But even so, I get the feeling I'd feel better about killing my Fomorian than I would my Katakirauwa," he stated without reservation, at least with the Fomorian, it wasn't constantly putting up a pathetic front to make itself look pitiable.

"As long as you're willing to put up with the toughness of it then that's your choice," Hana stated with a shrug before continuing, "now why don't you go and get something to eat and rest up, you look like you need it."

Releasing a sigh, Shirou found himself simply accepting that idea as he bade the two farewell and made his way to the Hunter Association.

He would just have to be careful to avoid anything with Mamedanuki in it.

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

Shirou wouldn't lie, the stinging was definitely an issue.

It was simply not dying down anywhere near fast enough and he was left with the serious question of how much damage he had caused from reinforcing his body.

And that is why, for the first time since he arrived in Tokyo, he was getting a medical check-up off a demon.

A beautiful woman with long blonde hair that fell far past her ankles, pointed ears and a long, dark blue one piece dress.

The demon of the Femme Race, Leanan Sidhe.

"So… what's wrong with him?" Sosuke asked as he watched his demon working.

"… it is… confusing," the demonic woman stated with a frown, "I have never seen anything like this."

Shirou found himself growing nervous as he waited for the results, with Hana and Takeda watching over despite his wish that they weren't there with them.

"Why?" Takeda asked with a frown of his own.

"His body… well, his soul at least, is reacting very strangely to the presence of MAG in it," the demon stated with a frown, "it is as if it is collecting it into a trio of channels designed to contain something else."

Shirou found himself growing concerned at that statement.

Was it possible that she meant his Magic Circuits?

If so, then could that mean that the reason his prana felt different to before be because there is something else mixed in with it?

"W-wait, don't human's produce MAG?" Hana asked with a frown of her own and Shirou found himself growing even more confused.

"Small quantities," the demonic lady responded with a frown, "however, not only is he not producing any himself, but he's drawing in relatively large quantities from the environment and focusing it into channels where it seems to mix with something else."

This was definitely a difficult situation for him to deal with, hopefully he'd be able to lie his way out of it.

"To put it bluntly… the stinging he is feeling, is MAG poisoning," the pointy eared woman finished off, "however… even then there is something that doesn't add up."

"What do you mean?" Takeda asked and the woman released a sigh.

"His MAG is mostly contained within those channels, it may leak slowly, but the damage should be contained to that area… but the MAG poisoning is affecting his entire body as if it came into contact with everything, but there is nothing I can find that would suggest how it happened," the Leanan Sidhe explained with her frown returning full force.

"But then… how did it happen?" Hana asked with a tinge of concern permeating her voice.

"… I think Emiya-san here already knows how," the demon stated and he found his eyes widening in shock as he found himself looking at her in surprise, "whenever I mentioned channels, he reacted with concern, but there was a distinct lack of confusion… meaning he already knows what they are."

Shirou found himself swallowing nervously at that.

Back when his father had started to teach him about magecraft, he had been warned to never reveal it to anyone because it always drew more trouble than it was worth.

And here he was, stuck in a situation where he was being ousted as a magus in a world where such a thing would probably attract even more danger to him.

"I thought he was hiding something," Sosuke spoke up with a wry smile, even as both Hana and Takeda gave small chuckles.

"You don't say," the sarcasm in the other hunters voice was so thick it could block an armour piercing bullet, "I never thought the guy that could summon demons without an app might have some stuff he isn't sharing with us."

Shirou found himself grimacing at that particular remark.

It wasn't really that hard to figure out when he thought about it.

"But anyway, Lea, is there anyone you can think of that might be able to help?" Sosuke asked and the demon shook its head in the negative.

"No, there may be someone capable of helping out there… but no one I am aware of," the demon stated with a bland tone.

"So he's destined to die of MAG poisoning?" that statement alone made Shirou frown.

"… I cannot say for certain," the demonic woman stated with her frown returning, "something about his body seems to be granting him some form of resistance… but I don't know enough to make a reliable conclusion."

That was definitely worrying.

If he was constantly having to deal with this poisoning every time he used reinforcement then that would naturally cause issues with holding his own against the demons out there.

But that wouldn't stop him from doing what he could to help people.

He clenched his fists in conviction as he rose from his seat.

"Thank you for that information Leanan Sidhe," he said before he prepared to avoid whatever questions were bound to come his way about his abilities.

"You are most welcome Emiya-san," the femme responded with a nod of satisfaction, "though if you are not averse to the possibility… I would like to ask for you to provide me with some MAG."

Shirou didn't know how to respond to that one.

"Doing so will help you recover from your poisoning," she claimed before continuing, "and feed me as well."

Shirou found himself easily identifying which was the more important part of that to the demon.

But he released a sigh before holding out his hand.

"Fine," and with little more than a couple of blinks of surprise, the female demon took a hold of his hand before he spoke those two words that helped him focus, "Trace On."

The Leanan Sidhe almost immediately jerked in surprise as he started to flow his prana into her hand, before her eyes widened and stared at their connected hands.

Pushing out as much as he could, he found himself forcing even the demons contained within his circuits into her being, discovering that the tether remained though the power was drained.

Upon emptying his reserves, he could feel little more than exhaustion claiming him, and to make matters even worse, it hadn't even helped in relieving the stinging in his muscles at all.

"That… was certainly a lot of MAG," the demon stated with a couple of raised eyebrows, "though you clearly pushed something else into me… hold still for a little while."

Shirou continued to hold on until he felt something that made his eyes widen in shock.

Prana.

The demonic lady was pushing his prana back into his body, however, this time it felt  _right_ … it felt the same as it did back when he used his nerves as circuits before he appeared in Tokyo.

And within a few seconds, he found his circuits full once again and the stinging in his muscles dying down.

"How did you do that?" he asked earning a smug expression from the demonic muse.

"I am a being of Magnetite, separating foreign substances and forcing them out of myself is nothing special," she proclaimed easily and Shirou found himself almost chuckling at her haughtiness.

"And why did you return that to me?" he decided to ask, wondering just why she didn't just release it into the air.

"Because whatever it is, your body is producing it instead of MAG," her answer was quick and to the point, "meaning it is natural to you… and likely to help you recover faster."

Shirou could definitely agree with her assessment.

"Now, as your medical advisor, I would recommend having your channels drained of MAG on a regular basis and your… whatever you call it, returned to you immediately afterwards," she stated firmly, "there is no guarantee as to whether that will help in the long run or not, but it is the best treatment I can offer you."

Shirou honestly found himself somewhat surprised at the fact she declared herself to be his medical advisor, but she was the closest thing he had to a Doctor in this world.

However, that didn't change the other issue he would have.

"So… Shirou," Hana spoke and he found himself wanting to leave, "you obviously know what this stuff is… are you willing to share?"

Her wording made it sound like she was expecting him to say no.

"Sorry, but it's not something I want to talk about," and she was right.

"Well, that's your choice," Takeda said and he found himself looking at the man with a frown, "guess it explains why you didn't want someone looking over you earlier either."

Shirou wasn't sure how to feel about that.

They weren't pressuring him into revealing what knew and despite everything, he found himself feeling like he should tell them… but Kiritsugu had told him to keep it a secret.

And he trusted his father.

"Look, if you want to keep it a secret, then we won't tell anyone about this," Hana said without hesitation, followed by the two men nodding in agreement, "just… if you ever change your mind about telling us, we'll be willing to listen."

And now Shirou felt himself feeling bad about not telling them.

Sure they were still practically strangers given how short an amount of time he'd known them for, but it was still hard to think of them as such given how… close, they were to him already.

"Sorry," he found himself simply apologizing again, before finding himself inwardly shivering at the unsettling laugh that came from the lips of his new 'medical advisor'.

"Hoh, I would suspect you were trying to come off as mysterious if everything about you didn't scream otherwise," Leanan Sidhe sounded amused as she said that, "it would make you quite the interesting lover."

Okay, now Shirou wanted out.

"You are not taking a lover," Sosuke stated firmly, "it never ends well for them."

"I merely said he would make an interesting one… but he is no artist," she replied without pause, "and I only take artists as my consorts."

Shirou didn't stop himself from releasing a sigh of relief at that statement.

"Well, my battery is running low now," the Hunter that summoned the woman finally said before a flash of blue lightning appeared around the blue dressed woman, prompting her disappearance, "I'm going to recharge my phone now."

That statement made Shirou frown before remembering that most Hunters used a phone to summon their demons.

At least he wouldn't have to worry about his demons vanishing in the middle of a fight due to running out of power.

"At least I don't have to worry about that," he responded out loud.

"Yeah, you're a lucky bastard with the whole 'you killed it, you bought it' deal you have going with your demons," Takeda said with a hint of jealousy in his voice.

"Oh yeah… I'm so lucky I'm apparently slowly dying of poisoning from a substance I've never heard of before," he responded with the blandest tone he could manage, earning a bit of a grimace from the man, "anyway, I'm going to go and get something to eat… see you later."

And with that, he left the room and made his way back to the Hunter Association.

He wasn't going to let this poisoning stop him from helping people after all.

XXX Fate/FINAL Night XXX

Getting missions from the Hunter Association wasn't something he was particularly used to, what with how he had only ever gotten one before and here he was, sitting with four options available to choose from.

They included, collecting some light bulbs for one of the rooms, make a delivery to Ikebukuro, kill some demons named Jack The Ripper or deliver 10 Mamedanuki 'Skins' to a restaurant… that last one made him shiver in disgust.

In the end, his decision was clear.

He had officially accepted the 'Slayer Quest' as they nicknamed it, with the simple goal of killing ten Jack the Rippers and collecting their heads to prove they had been dealt with.

He would probably feel worse about going on a killing spree if his targets weren't literally named after one of the most infamous Serial Killers in all of history.

Leaving the underground of Ueno, he found himself uncertain of what to do but steeled himself before calling forth Lham Dearg once more.

"I see you have chosen to bring me forth once more," this time Shirou found himself looking at the demonic Scotsman with worry at the tiredness of its tone, "now explain to me why we suddenly felt our Magnetite being ripped from us?"

He couldn't stop himself from grimacing at that.

He had just thought about himself and the fact he was apparently poisoned when he had passed his power over to Leanan Sidhe, never truly considering what it would mean for the demons in his circuits.

"Sorry," he said before the demon cut in.

"I did not ask you for apologies, I asked for an explanation," it said with narrowed eyes, "I am tired, and I am hungry, you would do well to fear me right now."

"I'm apparently suffering from something called MAG poisoning," he stated almost immediately, causing the demon to breathe in deep before letting it out slowly.

"And so you removed it to help yourself," it said and Shirou found himself nodding once even as he prepared himself to activate his circuits as he kept his hand near his sword.

Silence reigned as the demon kept its eyes closed before eventually opening them once more.

"Very well, I shall accept that reasoning," it claimed with a firm tone, "however, if you wish to remove the Magnetite from your body, be careful to  _not_ remove the MAG of your demons… it is liable to get you murdered."

He wasn't sure if doing that would hurt his long term health… but his short term issue was probably a little more important for just then so he found himself releasing a sigh as he found himself making an agreement.

"I'll try to avoid that next time," he said before feeling himself relax slightly upon seeing the Scottish Soldier releasing the tension in its form, "how is the Fomorian doing?"

From what he remembered, the Katakirauwa had been summoned arguing with something he called 'Mutton Bastard', so it was likely that all the demons he slayed ended up in the same place.

"It was doing well enough to become semi-docile," it told him before glaring at him, "until someone thought it would be a good idea to rip our MAG from us."

It was obvious it was a jab at him and he found himself averting his eyes with a grimace.

The sound of air being cut caused him to dodge to the side and grab the hilt of his sword, as the blade of the Scottish Swordsman stopped just short of where his head used to be.

"While it is good to see you can dodge off guard," the demon stated firmly, "averting your eyes is still a foolish action."

Shirou found himself gritting his teeth as he considered the fact that the blade wouldn't have actually hit him if he hadn't have dodged… but that didn't mean the demon hadn't really tried to kill him and stop upon realizing he had dodged.

All of a sudden, the one demon he had previously somewhat trusted had turned on him and he didn't know if he  _should_ trust the demonic warrior.

"Now, for what reason did you summon me," it asked and Shirou found himself unsure if he should trust it.

"Why should I trust you after that stunt you just pulled?" he asked it and it simply let out a satisfied grin.

"Correct question," it claimed and he found himself narrowing his eyes, "but if you truly didn't then you would've recalled me by now."

Shirou was definitely considering it.

"Who says I won't?" he asked and it simply smiled.

"Go right ahead," it told him without hesitation, "as long as you remain alive, you are useful to me… and given what the Fomorian told us, I think it's safe to say you know more about what is going on than you like to pretend you do."

He found himself freezing at that claim.

"After all, for a human to suddenly get 'stronger' after being hit is not normal at all," it continued, "and let us not forget the fact that you can summon us without training as if it is nothing special to you."

Yeah, it was pretty obvious when it was put that way.

"So I think it's safe to say that you are probably less likely to die than a normal human anyway," it claimed with an almost malicious smirk.

He found himself inwardly grimacing at that declaration.

The one good thing was that there was no-one within earshot.

"Now, what will you do?" it asked and he found himself wondering just what made the most sense.

It had attacked him when he had averted his eyes… but it had previously saved him from an attack when his guard was dropped… and beyond that, it was obvious it knew he wasn't normal now, meaning it probably expected him to dodge that attack.

So maybe it really did mean it as little more than a wake-up call.

Releasing a sigh, he decided what he would do.

"Fine," he acknowledged, "I need to kill ten 'Jack The Rippers' so I'll probably need your help."

"Is that so… then it might make sense to summon Fomorian as well," the swordsman told him and he stared at the demon blankly, causing it to release a sigh of its own, "if we are killing Jacks, then that means we can eat them… that will calm your Fomorian down."

He blinked at that before weighing the potential for it to go horribly wrong.

In the end, he made his decision.

With a flourish of his hand, a flash of lightning appeared, revealing the massive sheep-like demon he had previously defeated not that long ago.

"FOMOR HUNGRY!" it cried out immediately, "HUMAN FEED FOMOR!"

"I'll feed you Jack the Rippers as long as you don't eat the heads," he decided to try and barter with it before it attacked him.

"BUT HEAD BEST PART!" it cried out in anger.

"Then you can have any head we get after ten," he prepared himself to drag the demon back into his circuit, only for the monster to stall.

"… TEN HEADS FOR YOU?" it asked before Shirou found himself stalling slightly as he realized something.

"Actually… you might be able to get the heads anyway," he told it, "but I need to show them to someone before you eat them."

"TEN HEADS MINE?!" it sounded rather enthusiastic about that possibility and Shirou found himself nodding in acknowledgement.

"Yeah," he told it without hesitation, even if he failed to convince the client to let him keep the heads for his demon to eat, he could just try to hunt down more after.

"LET'S GO!" it cried out and Shirou noticed the nod from the Lham Dearg directed towards him.

Hopefully, this wouldn't prove to be a mistake.

Now, he just had to find Jack The Ripper.

He just hoped it was easier to find than the real one.

**Author's Note:**

> Now, while I did post another fic before this, I'm still new so I'm just going to say that I'm still just winging it.  
> But anyway...  
> Shadow out.


End file.
